Southpoint Capital Advisors LP Decreases Stock Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Southpoint Capital Advisors LP trimmed its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 700,000 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 200,000 shares during the period. AMETEK accounts for about 2.8% of Southpoint Capital Advisors LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $120,197,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of AMETEK by 168.8% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AMETEK in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 87.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on AME shares. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $216.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen lowered shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.29.

AMETEK Price Performance

AMETEK stock opened at $194.41 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $179.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $171.60. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.03 and a 1 year high of $198.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.39.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 19.27%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. AMETEK’s payout ratio is currently 19.51%.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In related news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,460 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.59, for a total value of $250,521.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,006,454.91. The trade was a 5.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total value of $1,321,737.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,967,114. This represents a 18.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,660 shares of company stock worth $5,958,141 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Company Profile

AMETEK, Inc manufactures and sells electronic instruments and electromechanical devices in the North America, Europe, Asia, and South America, and internationally. The company's EIG segment offers advanced instruments for the process, aerospace, power, and industrial markets; process and analytical instruments for the oil and gas, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, automation, and food and beverage industries; instruments to the laboratory equipment, ultra-precision manufacturing, medical, and test and measurement markets; power quality monitoring and c devices, uninterruptible power supplies, programmable power and electromagnetic compatibility test equipment, and sensors for gas turbines and dashboard instruments; heavy trucks, instrumentation, and controls for the food and beverage industries; and aircraft and engine sensors, power supplies, embedded computing, monitoring, fuel and fluid measurement, and data acquisition systems for aerospace and defense industry.